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Download: Political Prisoners Factsheet

“Currently nearly 6000 Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israeli jails. The numbers peaked, during both the first and second Intifadas, at about 12,000. Since 1967 about 800,000 Palestinians have been detained, so that nearly all families have experienced the
imprisonment of at least one male relative.

International law
As the occupying power, and a signatory to the 4th Geneva Convention, Israel is under a number of
legal obligations with regards to prisoners. These include:
• Not detaining prisoners outside the territory under occupation
• Not subjecting prisoners to torture or to “physical or moral coercion … in particular to obtain information from them or from third parties”
• Not sentencing prisoners without a proper trial, which includes the right to present evidence and call witnesses, to be represented by a lawyer “who shall be able to visit them freely and shall enjoy the necessary facilities for preparing a defence”

Israel violates these legal strictures on a daily basis.